RE: Taking the plunge

RE: Taking the plunge (Full Version)

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Starbuck09 -> RE: Taking the plunge (6/27/2009 9:29:29 AM)
No worries Steve and Maria I hope you have a great time on your trip I only meant small in the sense that nearly all yachts are relatively small that's all I certainly wasn't attempting to teach you to suck eggs I obviosly got the wrong end of the proverbial it just seemed that you'd decided to go on an adventure without too much planning obviously I now realise that is not so. By the way if you've both spent time in countries without a system what did you think of the situation did it make you feel more or less appreciative of our own?

Sybilla -> RE: Taking the plunge (6/27/2009 10:05:49 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: DesFIP I'm not sure why having wealth means you must demonstrate it? Perhaps it was that, and not the total on the monthly bank statement that caused all the stress. quote: ORIGINAL: olena I think the OP phrased it “perceived wealth” which was actually making oneself poor with the debt and as DesFIP that was where the stress was. I agree. When a person's life is overrun with mortgages, loans and credit balances and/or their financial resources are invested primarily for the benefit of others, it's one of debt, not wealth. I think it's true that society brings a lot of pressure to bear as regards consumerism for its own sake, but the final decision still lies with the individual. Wealth doesn't automatically equal unhappiness. That's not to say I think a decision for radical change isn't valid. I couldn't do it myself because knowing what I'd given up and that I'd pretty much given it up forever would probably bother me as much as I'd enjoy the adventure. But I say good for those who could.

allthatjaz -> RE: Taking the plunge (6/27/2009 11:13:56 AM)
In the UK it depends where you live as to how much debt you may end up with. If your living in East Anglia for example, you may expect to buy a house for as little as £70,000 but that same house in London is going to cost around £350,000. Renting is the same. Central London will cost a kings ransom for a small studio that you couldn't swing a cat round in. People who could barely afford mortgages were (up until recently) enticed into SP mortgages because even a SP mortgage would be cost less than an average rental. The cost of living in the UK is huge in comparison to many other European and worldwide countries and we get a hefty 3rd of our income removed by the tax man before we ever see it and secondary taxation in the form of VAT. A recent study in the UK showed that if you had an average income for an average family living in an average house with an average car, you will at the end of each month have precisely no disposable income.

sophia37 -> RE: Taking the plunge (6/27/2009 3:31:49 PM)
Yup. Its fun to live on a boat and do what you are doing. Down the line you might take a different pathway. Stay open minded and persevere.

Loki45 -> RE: Taking the plunge (6/27/2009 3:49:14 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: allthatjaz Most houses have a presentation side and a back yard and every one on this street and had the presentation side facing the road. In this case they all turned their backs to the beautiful views so they could show their wealth to the people passing by. If the back yard is called the back yard, I can only assume the presentation side would be considered the front yard. I know of no neighborhood in America where the back yard faces the road. I don't think that's what I would consider a demonstration of their wealth. In fact, here, some have phenominal back yards and would like to sit in those yards while looking at the countryside like you mentioned.

LookieNoNookie -> RE: Taking the plunge (6/27/2009 6:08:19 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: allthatjaz Its interesting listening to people talk of perceived wealth. Interestingly enough, I find that intriguing as well. I started perceiving I was wealthy about 4 months ago. I've moved on to perceiving all my debt was entirely gone as well as perceiving I drive a brand new Lexus.

autoRelease -> RE: Taking the plunge (6/27/2009 6:34:05 PM)
I did sort of did something similar. I didn't quit my job, I got laid off, but I knew it was coming for a long time. I wasn't having fun in my career so I decided to go back to college and go in a completely different direction. Now I'm done my first year and haven't been able to find a summer job. I'm still clinging to the property ladder but it won't be too much longer before I fall off. What happens after that I don't know. My main problem with not having any money is that I prefer to live alone (well that and I want a horse, but I'll likely never be that rich anyway).I tell people I'm retired because I'm living off my retirement money.

SlyStone -> RE: Taking the plunge (6/28/2009 7:43:50 AM)
quote: I grew up poor and seemingly always hungry. I will take the security and pleasures that having some money in the bank can lead to. I personally do not buy that money creates unhappiness but people pursuing a wealthy lifestyle and thinking that is success or failure and thinking it is an inherent right or they just deserve it often does. I agree with this. I personally don't know anyone over the age of forty with money who doesn't feel a certain level of stress at this moment because they worry about maintaining a lifestyle for which they have grown accustomed at a time when it is very difficult to maintain, let alone grow, wealth. It is not wealth or the need to demonstrate it that creates stress, it is the pursuit of it, and the fear of losing it, and the more you have the more you have to lose, it is a simple truth. For those did not grow up with money and then start making it, there is always a fear that tomorrow it could all be gone, and that is especially true right now. So while it is true that money does provide security and freedom from material need, there must also be a tremendous sense of freedom in shedding the need itself. And for some of us there is also a sense of guilt that comes with wealth, how can I have so much when children are starving. I am not saying anyone should feel this guilt, but some people do. I am a capitalist for sure, if you work hard you deserve to be rewarded, but I do think that when it comes to money, a very little humility goes a long way.

allthatjaz -> RE: Taking the plunge (6/28/2009 9:11:26 AM)
I agree with what you say SlyStone. You live to your means weather your rich or poor and therefore have more to lose if your a bankrupt wealthy family but then I believe that all of this materialistic stuff is replaceable. We on the other hand are not. I was brought up in a working class one parent family where things didn't come that easy. I didn't have that responsibility of worrying where the next meal came from because I was a child but from the stories I have been told, my mum had it tough. She then married a very wealthy man and we moved lock stock and barrel from our very modest home to a big house in the country. Suddenly I could have the tv in my room, the pony I had always longed for and the private education my mum had only ever dreamt about for us. Those times were not happy ones because I didn't fit in and had been pulled kicking and screaming from my roots, from my community. As soon as I was old enough to leave school I married a guy and with a rucksack each we set off across Europe and eventually into the Middle East. There we set up home with the natives and remained with them for some years. We lived amongst people that had very little in the way of material possessions and there were many occasions when we all just went hungry. What did strike me back then was the community spirit. One only went without if everyone went without. If someone had something then they shared it. Families all lived in close proximity and your neighbors were people you would gladly help out of visa versa. I have lived in houses in the UK where I have never known my neighbors and my friends and family are scattered far and wide. I went on to marry another guy who could provide all the things that the western world expect but I was always scratching at the walls, looking for a way out like a caged animal. My roots started poor but within a simple community that was a happy one. Perhaps its just the simple life I need. It just makes me feel far richer. I know we are in for hard times ahead but I don't dread them. We will find work where we can but neither of us will ever live to work again.

autoRelease -> RE: Taking the plunge (6/28/2009 6:14:28 PM)
That's an amazing story allthatjaz.

SlyStone -> RE: Taking the plunge (6/28/2009 7:21:52 PM)
quote: My roots started poor but within a simple community that was a happy one. Perhaps its just the simple life I need. It just makes me feel far richer. I saw an interview with Cameron Diaz the other day, beside being stunning she was surprisingly, at least to me, engaging, and she said something that struck me. She said "I am not a complicated person but I am complex" and I thought that really is a kind of a profound truth, perhaps something you can relate to as well. And yeah, in case you are wondering, it does feel weird to quote Cameron Diaz.[:-] Be that as it may, it seems to me that you have lived both sides of the coin and have now made your choice, let the adventure begin!

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